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Maybe it's time to give up.

TomH65

Active Member
I was riding to work today along a main road (at less than 30mph) when a Taxi just pulled out of a side road in front of me with only 10 yards to spare I slammed on the brakes and hit an oil patch. The front wheel felt like it had turned to jelly (jello for stateside readers, I think), and locked and went into a skid. I released the brake and the steering simply wobbled and I hit the ground (it was my small Suzuki and not my Harley this time) in heavy traffic. Thankfully, the car driver behind me stopped in time and heaved my bike of me as I was trapped under it. My confidence is shattered and I am in lots of pain. Riding season will soon be upon us again over here, but I don't feel like I want to do it anymore. Life is precious, and within a few months I felt that it might have been over twice.

The choice today was: 1. I hit the car that pulled out, or 2. I dropped the bike. I chose option 2.
I loved riding, but right now I just feel like hanging up my boots.
 
Glad that you made it out relatively OK. Yes life is precious, and I thank the good Lord every day that I am still on the right side of the grass. If after a few weeks, you continue to be uncomfortable riding then it may be best for you to hang it up, at least for a while. There are dangers every day that seem to be lurking around the corner. My thoughts are, if I worried about each and every one, I wouldn't leave the house. For what it's worth, I faced a similar situation with SCUBA diving a sport that I had been involved in since I was a teen. After nearly 30 years of diving, I had multiple certifications and never had any close calls. Then one day during a routine dive trip, I just felt uncomfortable. Not scared, just uncomfortable to the point that it gave me pause. I just shook it off and figured next time would be different; it wasn;t. I hung up the regulator for a while and then after a lot of thought, hung it up permanently. I'm not suggesting that is the solution for everyone, but it was the right one for me. Bike riding , like SCUBA is a sport that you don;'t want to have any major screw ups. Take it one day at a time, and pray for some enlightenment. You'll find what's right for you.....Good luck.
 
I was riding to work today along a main road (at less than 30mph) when a Taxi just pulled out of a side road in front of me with only 10 yards to spare I slammed on the brakes and hit an oil patch. The front wheel felt like it had turned to jelly (jello for stateside readers, I think), and locked and went into a skid. I released the brake and the steering simply wobbled and I hit the ground (it was my small Suzuki and not my Harley this time) in heavy traffic. Thankfully, the car driver behind me stopped in time and heaved my bike of me as I was trapped under it. My confidence is shattered and I am in lots of pain. Riding season will soon be upon us again over here, but I don't feel like I want to do it anymore. Life is precious, and within a few months I felt that it might have been over twice.

The choice today was: 1. I hit the car that pulled out, or 2. I dropped the bike. I chose option 2.
I loved riding, but right now I just feel like hanging up my boots.

I hope you are OK and I hope you get back riding. I wish it helped, but people in the US don't drive any better. I think the real crime is that they get dumber and dumber every day. And there is no remorse on their parts. When riding season comes here, I grow at least another set of eyes. I hate riding white-knuckled!

I hope you have a speedy recovery!
 
Take a bit of time out, get over the shock and get well.
When you've been off the bike for a while maybe by the time the spring comes around again you'll miss it and want to get out there again. And if not, well that's alright too, you'll know yourself.
Main thing is your ok. Best of luck.
 
Give yourself time to heal physically and mentally before making any decisions. Accidents can mess you up both ways. Time will let you figure out what feels right for you. But, as you say you love to ride, I suspect over time you'll miss being on the bike and get back to riding. If it helps, take a rider safety course to refresh your skills and rebuild your confidence.

Good luck on what you decide and I hope you heal up good as new.
 
I'm really glad that you were not hurt any worse than you were and I hope you are on the mend and will fully recover. You will get a lot of advice on returning to riding or not returning and in the end it will be your feelings that will tell you how you will handle it. From my perspective I would never want someone else to take something from me that I loved doing. We all see careless drivers every time we go for a ride and if your in a car they will still be on the road. I hope you are up and about soon. Don
 
Just glad you're ok. You do what you think you must. To me, better not to ride ,than to ride and not be fully into it.
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Get better. Get back on that thing and ride it like you know you want too!
 
Glad that it was not worse. PLEASE do not give up riding because of this event. Hone your skills and possibly take a motorcycle safety course to help you understand evasive actions while riding. The course will help you understand that putting a bike down is the worst thing you can possibly do for you are actually crashing motorcycle and not allowing your self to do any number of evasive moves to avoid a collision. My theory on riding is I am the only one going to loose if involved in a accident, so the only one that I rely on is myself to prevent myself from getting into a accident. These are some of the skills learned through taking motorcycle safety courses....
Best to you and a full recovery.....
 
If you feel you can't get back up on two wheels, ie, feel safe riding...
Maybe three wheels? [trike] will allow you to get out in the wind again...
 
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